Wire
Significant events in Kansas politics
TOPEKA (AP) — Significant events in Kansas politics in 2008: JANUARY 18: Gov. Kathleen Sebelius appoints Douglas County District Judge Steve Six as attorney general, replacing Paul Morrison, who leaves Jan. 31 after disclosing an extramarital affair. 28: Sebelius gives the Democratic response to Republican President Bush’s final State of the Union address. 29: Sebelius endorses Obama during a rally in El Dorado, the hometown of one of Ob...
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AP interview: Sebelius won’t rule out DC later
John Hanna AP Political Writer TOPEKA (AP) — Gov. Kathleen Sebelius hasn’t ruled out joining President-elect Barack Obama’s administration eventually, despite her decision this month to take herself out of consideration for his Cabinet. “That is one of the doors that will continue to be open,” Sebelius said during an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press. “And he has pretty much said that.” On Dec. 6, the Democratic governor had an...
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Celebrities
Kansas native in band nominated for Grammy TOPEKA (AP) — A native Kansan is nominated for a Grammy Award for his drum work in a band called the Brazilian Girls. Born and raised in Topeka, Aaron Johnston is the drummer of the trio whose latest CD, “New York City,” is a Grammy nominee for Best Electronic/Dance Album. The band faces nominees such as Cyndi Lauper and Kylie Minogue at the Feb. 8 Grammy Awards show. Of the Brazilian Girls, only...
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Franklin County Big Sister relationship lasts two decades
Jenalea Myers The Ottawa Herald RANTOUL (AP) — Darla Ouellette of Rantoul said she never quits something. And it’s her attitude of never quitting that has led her to a near 23-year sisterhood with Wendy Murphy, Baldwin City. While they’re not sisters by birth, the pair have considered themselves family since meeting more than two decades ago in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. “I don’t ever quit anything,” Ouellette said. “You don’...
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The Associated Press All Times CST Wild-card Playoffs Saturday, Jan
NFL Playoff Glance The Associated Press All Times CST Wild-card Playoffs Saturday, Jan. 3 Atlanta at Arizona, 3:30 p.m. (NBC) Indianapolis at San Diego, 7 p.m. (NBC) Sunday, Jan. 4 Baltimore at Miami, noon. (CBS) Philadelphia at Minnesota, 3:30 p.m. (FOX) ——— Divisional Playoffs Saturday, Jan. 10 San Diego, Indianapolis or Baltimore at Tennessee, 3:30 p.m. (CBS) Minnesota, Arizona or Atlanta at Carolina, 7:15 p.m. (FOX) Sunday...
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Celebrities
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — An audience of almost 3,000 clapped and cheered as Woody Allen and his jazz band gave their first ever concert in Poland on Sunday. The filmmaker, playing the clarinet, was accompanied by his New Orleans Jazz Band for a performance of traditional jazz. “We will do our best to entertain you,” Allen told the audience at Warsaw’s biggest concert hall, Sala Kongresowa, at the beginning of the two-hour concert. Allen’s so...
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Heloise
Dear Heloise: The U.S. economy is experiencing a major downturn. Often when faced with tough economic times, senior communities on fixed incomes are hurt the most when their health care falls by the wayside. During our current financial crisis, I want to make sure that their eye health is not neglected. This season, I urge readers to call EyeCare America’s Seniors EyeCare Program at 800-222-EYES (3937) to see if they may qualify for medic...
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Chiefs, Bengals ready for change
CINCINNATI (AP) — Ryan Fitzpatrick took the snap, went to his knee, then lobbed the ball to the nearest referee. The clock ran off the last 30 seconds of an all-around dreadful season. It wasn’t long before the clamoring for change began. The Cincinnati Bengals’ 16-6 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday was more of a beginning than an end. Both teams had long ago been eliminated from anything meaningful, relegated to playing out t...
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Oddities
Man spends days unnoticed in Pennsylvania family’s attic WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — A family didn’t realize it had an unexpected Christmas guest until a man who had been in their attic for days emerged wearing their clothes, police said. Stanley Carter surrendered Friday after police took a dog to search the home in Plains Township, a suburb of Wilkes-Barre about 100 miles north of Philadelphia. He was charged with several counts of burglary...
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Ask Amy
Dear Amy: My long-term girlfriend has gained some weight during the course of our relationship. My girlfriend seemed happier and more confident when she weighed less. I am not sure of the best way to approach the subject of recommending that she attempt to improve her health and mood through diet and exercise. In the past when I brought it up, she became insulted and told me that I was inconsiderate. She is my companion, and I want her t...
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Life moves on after popular Missouri rancher vanishes
PASSAIC, Mo. (AP) — The auctioneer sat above the cattle ring and told the crowd what a great herd they were getting ready to bid on. Well-tended, topnotch cows and performance-tested bulls. “They certainly would not be for sale if not for the circumstances,” auctioneer Jim Hertzog said into the microphone. His voice broke with those words and he held up a hand: “Give me a second.” The arena crowd sat stone quiet. Hertzog, wearing a big co...
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Obama adviser says slowing economy won’t deter tax cuts
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top adviser to President-elect Barack Obama said Sunday that the country’s slowing economy won’t keep the new administration from fulfilling its plans for a middle-class tax cut. “We feel it’s important that middle-class people get some relief now,” Obama adviser David Axelrod said. Middle-class tax cuts will be part of the new administration’s stimulus plan, Axelrod said. “This package will include a portion of that ta...
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Long-lost love letters returned to woman, 94
James Carlson The Topeka Capital-Journal TOPEKA (AP) — Anxious eyes watched Elroy McDowell as the 94-year-old woman opened the box on Christmas Eve. It wasn’t a normal present, this bundle of love letters she found inside. Lost in the 1940s, the brittle papers sent between McDowell and her now-deceased husband were lugged around the country by a stranger for more than 30 years. Now, they were home. Relatives cried at the thought of this...
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Wire briefs
Firefighters rescue boy who fellthrough ice TOPEKA (AP) — Topeka firefighters rescue a 10-year-old boy who fell through the ice on Central Park pond while trying to retrieve a radio-controlled toy. Authorities said the boy was in the icy waters for around 15 minutes late Sunday afternoon, about 100 feet from shore. The child appeared to have been suffering from hypothermia and facial cuts that he may have received when he was pulled over t...
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Jets fire coach Eric Mangini after 3 seasons
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — The New York Jets fired coach Eric Mangini on Monday, a day after a team that harbored Super Bowl hopes with five games left failed to make the playoffs. The Jets started the season 8-3 under quarterback Brett Favre, beating New England and Tennessee on the road in consecutive weeks and raising visions among fans of the team’s first Super Bowl trip since 1969. “I don’t think it was one thing,” owner Woody Johnson ...
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Eastern Kansas Ursuline order moving to Kentucky
PAOLA (AP) — A Roman Catholic women’s order that has been in eastern Kansas for 113 years plans to leave next year and merge with another Ursuline order in Kentucky. The Ursuline sisters plan to sell their grand convent in Paola — a local landmark — and begin moving in May. The order will leave behind a legacy of education as the sisters opened several schools in Kansas City and eastern Kansas that have taught more than 50,000 students. Th...
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Dolphins, Vikings, Chargers win divisions
The Associated Press Far from the imperfect abyss into which the Detroit Lions have fallen, the NFL’s latest playoff qualifiers are celebrating. Shockingly, those party-goers include the Miami Dolphins. Hours after the Lions became the first team to go 0-16 in a season, the Dolphins, who were 1-15 a year ago, completed a memorable turnaround and won the AFC East at 11-5. That alone should give hope to all of the league’s tailenders. “I d...
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Well water near spill may be unsafe
KINGSTON, Tenn. (AP) — Some water samples near a massive spill of coal ash in eastern Tennessee are showing high levels of arsenic, and state and federal officials on Monday cautioned residents who use private wells or springs to stop drinking the water. Samples taken near the spill slightly exceed drinking water standards for toxic substances, and arsenic in one sample was higher than the maximum level allowed for drinking water, according...
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Shelters see surge in abandoned horses
WICHITA (AP) — Dogs and cats aren’t the only animals suffering as the economy takes a toll on pet owners. Rescue groups in Kansas say they’re seeing a surge in the number of horses being abandoned, especially older horses. “Their owners can’t or don’t want to take care of them and turn them loose,” said Andre Miller, president and founder of the Hope in the Valley Equine Rescue and Sanctuary near Valley Center. “Animal control picks them u...
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Lawsuit on religion in military expanded
TOPEKA (AP) — A newly expanded federal lawsuit alleged Monday that the military doesn’t take complaints of religious discrimination seriously enough and allows personnel to try to convert Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan to Christianity. The Military Religions Freedom Foundation and a Fort Riley, Kan., soldier suing Defense Secretary Robert Gates now allege that a bias toward evangelical Christianity pervades even the Army’s suicide preventi...
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